I watched What Women Want with my sister and one of our friends the other night. After thinking about it for a couple of days and watching part of the movie again, I realized that I didn't really think the movie was that good. There were parts that were down right vulgar and I just didn't like a lot of the characters' values.
If you are planning on seeing the movie (I recommend against that, explanation later), you might want to skip the next paragraph as I give away parts of the plot.
There was, however, one thing that I especially liked about the movie. If you're not familiar with the premise of the movie, Mel Gibson is electricuted and can then hear womens' thoughts. One of Mel Gibson's co-workers is suicidal and feels like no one even notices that she's alive. Gibson hears this and goes out of his way to make sure she knows that someone does care about her. Near the end of the movie, she skips work and he goes to her house to stop her from committing suicide. It's really a wonderful gesture and I'm glad that it's a part of the movie.
And now you ask why I brought all this up. I've been thinking recently how our environment affects us. I've only been Christian for about a year and a half, so for much of my life I was immersed in things that are completely contrary to my current values. While my values and the way I live my life has changed, I still have memories of my life before. I still remember the jokes I told, the movies I watched, and the experiences I had. At times I find myself ashamed of these things. These things are a part of me and affect me still. Sometimes I convince myself that I have nothing to regret, for who I was helped me to become who I am. Sometimes I just want to go around and ask forgiveness from everyone I ever hurt. Sometimes I just don't know what to do.
And then I look at my life now and I see that I'm still letting these things into my life even when I know that I shouldn't. I think that I'm strong enough to take the assaults on my values that come from the music I listen to, the movies I watch, and the people I spend time with. Yet, I wouldn't want other Christians that I care about to experience the same things.
For instance, after watching What Women Want with my sister and our friend, I watched it with a group of Christians. I was so uncomfortable watching parts of the movie that I decided to get up and leave rather than sit through it again. It didn't feel that way the first time I watched the movie. I actually thought the movie was quite good after I watched it the first time and I recommended it to the group of Christians to watch. What a difference company makes!
I write all this to plead with others to not try to stand up to the atrocities and vulgarities of this world. You don't have anything to prove to anyone. You might have lived with these things before, but you have a choice now to walk away. Christ won't be impressed that you withstood the attack, He'd have preferred you get away before the attack started.
I say all this from personal experience. I walk around this world and find myself having a hard time getting away from some of things I've watched / heard / experienced. Simple words, phrases, and pictures bring back memories of things I have left behind and I feel these are things that I won't get away from. For this reason, I say that you should get way from attacks on your values. These things will continue to attack you. Don't fall into the same trap I did.
